* <do name="Gamla Linköping" alt="" address="Vallaskogen (Kryddbodtorget 1)" directions="About 2km west of Linköping central. North of Vallaskogen" phone="" email="" fax="" url="http://www.linkoping.se/gamlalinkoping/" hours="" price="">Walk around and explore the old houses once situated in Linköping</do>

* Take in a '''hockey game''', at Linköping HC's new arena - Cloetta Center, just 5 minutes walk from the city centre.

* Take in a '''hockey game''', at Linköping HC's new arena - Cloetta Center, just 5 minutes walk from the city centre.

Revision as of 01:50, 17 March 2010

Linköping[1] (pronounced "Linshooping") is Sweden's fifth biggest municipality. It is in the northern part of the Götaland region and is the capital of Östergötland county. It has about 135,000 inhabitants in the municipality, including some countryside, and just under 100,000 in the city proper.

The city has the advantage of being a major city with all that it entails yet retaining the cozy quiet small town feel, largely due to the lack of tall buildings (a result of the military airfield just outside the city).

By train

The Linköping train station (Resecentrum) lies less than ten minutes walk from the center of the town. SJ [6] train journey's from Stockholm can take as little as 80 minutes and cost as little as 95 SEK.

By bus

Long-distance buses leave from Fjärrbussterminalen which is about 400m north of of the Resecentrum, past where the local buses are departing. It's on the same side of the road as the train station.

Swebus Express, ☎+46-771-218218, [7]. Linköping is part of the wide network of Swebus Express services, with journeys to Stockholm (2-3 hours), Gothenburg (4 hours) and Malmö (6 hours). Swebus is the most frequent, running sometimes more than 1 service per hour to Stockholm. If there's enough people it'll run express.

By car

Get around

By bus

All bus lines originate at Resecentrum. You'll also find a reception desk there where you can find timetables or get help. The local bus company is called Östgötatrafiken [9]. They also run the buses and trains in the rest of Östergötland and is the cheapest way to get around.

It's not possible to pay cash for a ticket on the bus. You can get ticket in Quickomats, some stores and at the bus station (Resecentrum). It's also possible to buy an SMS-ticket, information how to do that can be found at [10]. The ticket is valid for a limited time (usually 1 hour) so you can use the same ticket for more than 1 trip.

You can also buy a bus card. It is a magnetic strip card and you can load money in it. The advantage is that each trip fare is cheaper than the normal fare. You'll find more info about tickets and fares at [11]

Taxi

Taxis are on the expensive side. The meter is used to control the cost but always make sure that this is set when commencing a journey.

Bike

Linköping was announced the Swedish biking city of the year in 2002. Most students use bikes to get around and it is recommended you get one if your stay is extended. When you have a bike, the special bike map [12] might be useful. There are also recommended routes [13] available for those who want to combine nature with tourist sights. Paper versions are available at the tourist information office and in bike shops.

See

S:t Lars Kyrka

Linköping Cathedral[14]. The first church was built on this site in the 12th century, and was expanded regularly over the following centuries, culminating on the 19th-century tower. Linköping is said to have had the first Christian bishop in Sweden, in a time when Lund was Danish and Uppsala was pagan.

Linköping Castle[15], from the 13th century, was the bishop's residence until the Lutheran reformation in the 16th century. Now it is the residence of the sheriff (landshövding) for Östergötland county. The castle also houses a small museum.

The City Hall[16] (stadshuset) was erected as a secondary school (läroverk) in 1864. Above its entrance is the Latin phrase "Initium sapientie timor Domini" (fear of the Lord is the beginning of all learning). This power triangle is on the crest of a minor hill from which the city's main street (Storgatan) slopes down to the main square (Stortorget) and further down to the bridge (Stångebro) across river Stångån. In its extension, this street was part of the old country road to Norrköping and Stockholm.

Public Buildings. Situated around the hill crest are the public library, the administrative buildings for the diocese, the bishop's residence, and a sports house (gymnastikhuset [17]) built in 1881. The current library was built in 1998, but the collections of the old cathedral library date back to before Gutenberg. Further north are the concert hall (Konsert & Kongress), the county museum (Östergötlands länsmuseum) next to the Raoul Wallenberg plaza, and two secondary schools (Katedralskolan, Berzeliusskolan).

Gamla Linköping. Valla fritidsområde. Old style town.

Museums

Gamla Linköping[18] and Valla fritidsområde together have over 20 museums.

The Swedish Air Force Museum[19] in the suburb of Malmen features over a hundred aircraft from the early 20th century to the modern age. Due to expansion, the Museum will be closed from March 2, 2009 until the Grand Opening in June, 2010.

IT-ceum[20] is a computer and computing museum, located in Mjärdevi Science Park where you will find many of Linköping's IT companies. The museum covers both ancient Swedish computers and more current events, such as the demo scene with its realtime multimedia productions. The exhibitions describe both the technical and the social aspects of computing. The museum's signs are both in Swedish and in English. Free entry.

Linköpings Slotts- & Domkyrkomuseum[21] - a museum that shows the town's history as a seat for bishops since the 12th century.

Do

Visit Linköping Cathedral. Don't miss the organ concertos.

Walk around the city.

Gamla Linköping, Vallaskogen (Kryddbodtorget 1) (About 2km west of Linköping central. North of Vallaskogen), [22]. Walk around and explore the old houses once situated in Linköping

Take in a hockey game, at Linköping HC's new arena - Cloetta Center, just 5 minutes walk from the city centre.

During the semester, talk to the students at the university. Many of them will be glad to show you a good time!

Asian Food Stores

Getting Online

SITE Cybercafé, Sturegatan 3. 15 SEK per hour.

Sidewalk Express, Railway station. 19 SEK per hour.

Public Library, price: free, but time is limited. (to what extent, unknown for the moment)

Eat

Most restaurants in the city offer a restricted choice Saturday Shopping Lunch between 1200-1500 for around 80SEK which can be a good way to try out new restaurants. Lunch from Monday-Friday is often cheaper.

Drink

Coffee

There are many nice coffee houses and cafes by the main square and in the central parts of the city. They serve a wide variety of coffee. Sweden and the Swedes are the second highest consumers of coffee per person worldwide. In the past ten years traditional Swedish coffee tradition has been diversified and enriched by Italian and continental European coffee, the result being the caffè latte (the Italian word for Swedish coffee with milk) and a gazillion other forms of coffee.

The The Champ [55] sports bar, as well as The Pub, are also popular choices. A branch of the sports bar chain Pitcher's [56] opens on April 30, 2009.

To get informed about any entertainment or cultural events in town, such as the occasional live band, you pick up the free Nolltretton and Corren Fredag magazines (only available in Swedish) or check www.lkpg.nu [57]. You can also check the billboard on Lilla Torget where the arrangers post their flyers.

The students have their own places to go to, for instance Herrgår'n [58] in the Ryd area, Flamman [59] or Nationernas Hus [60] next door to the Cathedral in central Linköping. You have to be a university student (including foreign universities) or the guest of a student at Linköping University, to get in.

Systembolaget

Systembolaget is the state owned monopoly liquor store. This is where you go if you want to buy a bottle of wine or spirits or beer stronger than approx. 3% alocohol which you can find in supermarkets.

Mid-range

Hotell Östergyllen[67], Hamngatan 2. Good, cheap, and close to the railway station. Single rooms from 425 SEK, double rooms from 620 SEK. Not all rooms have bathrooms in the room.

Stångå Hotell[68], Tullgränd 4. phone 0046 (0)13-31 12 75. A family owned hotel with good service and prices that suites everyone, close to the railway station. Single rooms from 845 SEK, double rooms from 995 SEK (weekdays). Single rooms from 645 SEK, double rooms from 795 SEK (weekends).

Learn

Linköping University[70] was founded in 1969 and has its main "Campus Valla" west of the city. It is also home to Sweden's National Supercomputing Centre (NSC) and is well connected to the Internet. In 1993 Sweden's first website [71] was started by students in Linköping.

Get out

The River Stångån ends in Lake Roxen a few kilometers north of the city. The river is also part of Kinda kanal with a system of early 19th century locks that allow scenic boat trips through other lakes further south. Lake Roxen is also part of Göta kanal, dug in the 1810s to connect the Baltic Sea with the Atlantic at Gothenburg. A remarkable sight is Bergs slussar, a sequence of six locks on Roxen's western shore, about 10 kilometers north of Linköping.

The nearby city Norrköping has some interesting tourist attractions but worse shopping than Linköping.

For those who like running and exercising take a trip down south to Vidingsjö. It's about 5km to the south-east, an easy bike ride from the city centre. In Vidingsjö there are marked running tracks (2.5km, 5km and 10km) through the forest, some outdoor exercise equipment, a pizza shop and two other restaurants.

Events

This is a usable article. It has information for getting in as well as some complete entries for restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!